GAZZA: I BLAME POLICE

GAZZA: I BLAME POLICE

The ex-football legend tried to get behind the cordon late on Friday in a bid convince his pal to drop his weapon.[>

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But he blasted: “If you’ve got police surrounding you and putting pressure on you then… obviously he did snap.[>

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“I’m gutted. He was a good friend of mine.”[>

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And in an exclusive interview the troubled football icon said he firmly believed he could have saved Moat from shooting himself.[>

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As soon as he heard the former doorman was cornered by armed police in Rothbury, Northumberland, Gazza jumped in a taxi from his home town of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, 33 miles away.[>

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He arrived carrying a bag full of “provisions”, including chicken and lager, vowing to talk Moat out of “doing anything stupid”. He also took a dressing gown and a fishing rod with him and said he wanted to sit and chat to Moat as they fished in the river.[>

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He said: “I just wanted to say, ‘Come on, Moaty, it’s Gazza. Why don’t you put the gun away and throw it in the river? [>

“The police are not going to kill you’.”[>

But police refused to let the volatile football legend anywhere near Moat, who later blasted himself with a sawn-off shotgun.[>

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And last night Gazza, 43, spoke of his disappointment.[>

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He said: “I took food, bread, a can of lager, some jackets, something to keep him warm, a Newcastle top, everything, but I never got the chance to see him.[>

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“The police stopped us getting through and wouldn’t let me speak to him. The best thing though is that he didn’t shoot anybody, he just shot himself. [>

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“I think he would rather shoot himself than have a long stretch in jail. I wanted to help him. He was a good friend.[>

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“He used to work on the doors in Newcastle. He was friendly to everybody, a good lad. F**king hell.”[>

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In a bizarre twist – after Moat had shot himself – Gazza turned up at Newcastle General Hospital vowing to help him.[>

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But hospital workers had to explain that Moat, 37, was dead.[>

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And Gazza – who witnesses claimed was drunk – nearly collapsed in tears. Medics checked him over before discharging him.[>

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A hospital spokesman said: “He was discharged. There was nothing psychically wrong with him.”[>

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Gazza, who also turned up in Dunston, near Newcastle, when police killer David Bieber was arrested six years ago, said: “Moaty’s death is a real shame.”[>